IP: Washington waking up to privacy issues, by William Safire

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>
>http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/safire/050100safi.html
>
>May 1, 2000
>ESSAY / By WILLIAM SAFIRE
>Consenting Adults
>
>WASHINGTON -- Politicians of the left and right are finally
>beginning to pay attention to the groundswell of resentment
>about invasions of privacy.
>
>In the Senate, transportation subcommittee chairman Richard Shelby
>leads the way the law he sponsored to prevent states from selling to
>private investigators information and pictures required from motorists
>seeking a driver's license was upheld by the Supreme Court. He also led
>repeal of the ill-advised federal standard for licenses that would have
>used Social Security numbers to create an Orwellian national
>identification card.
>
>In the House, Texas Representative Ron Paul's bill to prohibit the use of
>the Social Security number as an all-purpose identifier is no longer in
>limbo. Ways and Means subcommittee chairman Clay Shaw reports that
>this action to combat widespread identity theft will be taken up this
>month.
>
>Chairman Dan Burton's Government Reform Committee will move on
>that privacy bill in June, as well as the bill to create a Privacy Protection
>Commission pressed by the G.O.P.'s Asa Hutchinson and Democrat Jim
>Moran.
>
>Here's evidence that we're getting traction President Clinton and Vice
>President Al Gore have detected the growing political appeal of personal
>privacy in a time of data rape. To a commencement audience yesterday,
>Clinton unveiled his plan to repel the invaders, challenging the Republican
>Congress to get on with legislation to stem the tide of snooping.
>
>[...]